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Testimonials

“Moir Group has the ability to provide constructive advice. They have a clear understanding of their subject matter and provide practical alternative solutions, which greatly assist in resolving issues.”

Domenic Chiera, Chief Financial Officer, Lake Maintenance

“I can confidently recommend Moir Learning as a great resource to assist someone entering the job market. As a new immigrant, Moir Learning Services took the time to review my CV with me and offer suggestions on how to better align it to the Australian style. They also offered feedback and advice to help me better myself in the marketplace. They were a pleasure to work with.”

“After spending time with Moir Learning Services, to go through my resume and LinkedIn account, I have learned techniques in maximising their use and I have gained more confidence in my job search. I’m highly recommending this session to anyone who has just come back into the job market.”

Belinda Beattie, Senior Commercial Finance Manager, Apple

“Matthew Talbot Homeless Services are pleased to acknowledge and commend Moir Group for their commitment to the ‘Work it out’ Program. The importance of the program can, and will, make a major difference in assisting our clients to seek employment and help rebuild their confidence and self-esteem.”

“I completed a CV/LinkedIn session with Moir Group and it was absolutely brilliant. I've come away with the confidence that they are up-to-date and professional. I would recommend this session as a worthwhile investment for anyone re-entering the job market.”

David Kneeshaw, General Manager, Finance and Business Operations, Intercompany and Stock

“It is excellent to work with an organisation that is able to adapt to our needs so willingly and effectively. The facilitators are always professional and committed to ensure that all participants involved are provided with personal attention. Feedback from participants of each workshop is outstanding. Moir Group displays a capacity to reach out to the disadvantaged; they offer compassion to individual needs and provide real practical advice to our service users affected by homelessness, or at risk of homelessness.
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“The people at Moir Group understand our requirements and consistently provide quality finance and accounting people to our team. I would recommend Moir Group to those who are looking for professionalism and transparency in a recruitment partner.”

Mark Roberts, Director , Human Resources, amaysim Australia

“We have worked with Moir Group on a number of projects over the last 12 months. I have found them to be helpful and reliable in producing quality candidates for our business. I would have no problem recommending Moir Group for finance recruitment needs and will definitely work with them again in the future.”

Kim Van Der Poel, People Advisor, Dalkia Energy Solutions

“With the understanding and knowledge Moir Group have acquired of our business over the past 2 years, they are capable of meeting our exact requirements and we can always rely on them for high quality candidates. They are not only reliable and efficient, but, very friendly to work with. If asked, I would recommend Moir Group’s services.”

Raheel Irfan, Group AP Manager, Idameneo Pty Ltd

“Moir Group have consistently introduced quality candidates to our organisation. Their experienced team and willingness to understand the client ensures the right people are employed and gives me every confidence in returning to Moir Group for recruitment advice and assistance.”

Chris Mamarelis, Chief Financial Officer, The Whiddon Group

“Moir Group assisted Steadfast in the recruitment of multiple roles. I enjoyed working with them and they delivered excellent outcomes and displayed a high level of professionalism and integrity at all times”

Rosalie Lau, Group Financial Controller, Steadfast Group

“I thoroughly enjoyed working with Moir Group. Their style is professional and thorough and they worked hard to source some excellent talent for our business.”

Sandra Cittadini, Senior HR Manager, SunRice

"We needed to build a quality team in a short space of time and Moir Group were key in assisting us. They listened to our needs and presented the right people to help us develop the culture we had begun building. As a result the transition has been an overwhelming success.”

Gary Margetson, Head of Shared Services, News Corporation

"We have been working with Moir Group for over 12 months now and have filled a number of senior roles. Their feedback, preparedness to challenge, as well as provide sound advice, has been invaluable to us. They constantly sought to understand our needs, to refine that understanding and to ensure we were able to continue moving forward. Their service throughout the process was exceptional.”

Carol Pegler, Director of Human Resources, Bard

“Integrity, professionalism and the desire to find the right fit between candidates and prospective employers - it was a pleasure to experience these attributes with Moir Group. Their commitment to finding the right role with the right cultural fit was second to none and I’m looking forward to maintaining my relationship with the Moir Group well into the future. The Moir Group does indeed stand out from the rest.”

"Thank you very much for helping to deliver outstanding candidates for this role. In comparison with other agencies, working with you was pleasant, professional and provided a great outcome."

Stuart Rennie,Church & Dwight

"Moir Group handled this process in an exceptionally professional way."

Craig Adams, Chief Financial Office, Clarendon Homes

"I will definitely stay in touch with Moir Group, I hold your company in very high regard and appreciate that your employees are genuine people who care about others, not just the outcomes."

Michelle Adam, Finance Manager, Woolworths

"I have dealt with a number of recruitment agencies, but by far Moir Group stands head and shoulders above all of them. I have found the engagement experience with Moir Group to be ground-breaking, new and so refreshing."

Hamilton, Candidate

"It was an absolute pleasure working with the wider Moir Group team and please be advised that I have recommended Moir Group amongst my network from both a candidate and client perspective."

Tim Howells, Software Controller, Microsoft

"The feedback, advice and enthusiasm Moir Group exhibits is absolutely refreshing. Hugely impressed with Moir Group."

Chris McFadden, Candidate

"A quick note to say thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement. Various conversations with your team and their positive attitude and willingness to explore options with me simply reinforced to me that you understood that its about people's lives and not just the numbers."

"Thanks again for your personable professionalism and delivering on the promise of the Moir Group brand.

Wayne McCusker, Managing Director, Church & Dwight

"Moir Group thank you so much for your superb professional advice and warm encouragement. I'm very grateful"

Cherry Liu, Candidate

"Moir Group is great and I thoroughly enjoyed working with you as a company. You are very good at what you do, always have a good understanding of me & our business and are great people to deal with.

Kristian Mertens, Chief Financial Officer, Norman Disney & Young

" Moir Group is the best agency in Sydney without a doubt, your professionalism and kindness is rare these days."

Alessandra Rizzo, Commercial Analyst, Inghams Enterprises Pty Limited

"Moir Group really stand out in comparison to other agencies, you work together as a team and genuinely are passionate about finding people a job. The fact that I felt this when I first met Moir Group and still feel it now means it must be an important part of your culture as a whole, it sets you apart from all other agencies. Moir Group are by far the best!”

Steven Davies, Candidate

"Angela has been a valuable resource and support in bouncing ideas off in a competitive job market. She has a depth of knowledge, shown great empathy and I have found her advice to be relatable and grounded. I would highly recommend Angela to someone seeking advice in their job search."

Linda Lukban, Candidate

"I'm glad that I have met the right people! Job satisfaction = fulfilled life - says it all.."

Moir Recruitment News

Moir Group have the pleasure of hosting Stephen Walters, Chief Economist - Advocacy, Australian Institute of Company Directors this week. Stephen's discussion will focus on a number of key themes about the global and Australian economies and what they mean for businesses, households, the policy outlook and financial markets. Current Issues such as these will be covered at his presentation:

Global economic outlook, including an assessment of China and the US and the fallout from the recent UK Brexit vote;

How Australia’s rotation in the sources of growth away from mining is progressing – why is the transformation happening at glacial pace?;

The forces driving the domestic income compression that makes the economy feel weaker than it is;

ZIRP – living in a world of zero interest rates – what comes next? Helicopter money in Australia?

Australia’s AAA credit rating – does it really matter if we lose it?

What can Australia look forward to in terms of our long term drivers of economic growth – China’s future consumers won’t buy ship-loads of iron ore.

This was the summary from Su-Lin Ong, Managing Director, Chief Economist and Head of Australian Research, RBC Capital Markets who spoke at an event for us recently. The questions from the audience were probing for some glimmer of hope, however her answers were also not very optimistic.

From a global perspective Su-Lin spoke about the challenges facing Continental Europe and the U.K. in the wake of Brexit. US has had a relatively strong 7-8 year period and their economy tends to go in cycles of this length and with China also slowing. The combination of all these was worrying. In addition, locally the close federal election result and the difficulty going forward for the Government in developing and passing the strong reform that is needed and how it will deal with the challenges facing Australia. I don't think it helped that on the day Su-Lin spoke, Australia had its AAA credit rating put on watch by one of the large rating agencies.

Su-Lin has spoken at one of our events each year for many years now and this was I think her most negative outlook over these years.Interestingly when I look at Australia from an employment perspective I remain positive and upbeat about the outlook now and into the medium term. I have outlined the reasons why in our latest quarterly market update.

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Whether it’s true or not, the belief held by anyone over 50 is that they are unemployable and it’s impossible for them to change their job. Of course there are many who have proved that this isn’t the case but the myth remains. Many people are unfortunately made redundant and find themselves having to look for work. Others are seriously unhappy in their work but are too scared to move. At 50, if you retire at the present pensionable age, you still have 17 years left to work, and that’s a long time to be miserable.

The workplace that the baby-boomer entered was radically different and has changed dramatically since then. Most of us have done pretty well at adapting to fast-paced change, technology and globalisation. Unfortunately, others in the work place are less sure about this and ageism is rife in many organisations.

It’s easy in the light of this to lose our motivation. But now more than ever is the time we need it! With life expectancy into the 80s, there is still plenty of time for people to forge new ventures. It’s really important that we go on having aspirations and creating goals for ourselves.

Keren will explore these issues with you and how to make your age work for you not against.

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The Vinnies CEO Sleepout is a unique way for business leaders to raise awareness and important funds in support of essential homeless services across the country. There are more than 100,000 Australians who find themselves homeless each night of the year.

At Moir Group we are very proud to support the St Vincent de Paul Society, and after participating in the CEO sleepout since 2012, our CEO, Stephen Moir, will once again participate this year. Since the 2012 sleepout, Moir Group have partnered with St Vincent de Paul/Matthew Talbot Homeless Services and we are now running monthly resume and interview workshops giving advice to their clients. This commenced in September 2012 and we have been committed to running monthly workshops since which have resulted in numerous people securing employment. We are therefore asking you to consider making a donation to this very worthwhile cause.

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“From Tax To The Boardroom”

What Prisons, Aged Care and Frozen Food Has Taught Me about How to Manage Your Career

People often talk about boards as being a late stage career option - somewhere you end up post a corporate career. Few talk about how board work can help you advance your career, even at the earlier stages. And fewer still share how board work can transform your thinking and increase your effectiveness, no matter where you sit on a leadership journey. Or how it can change your life…

Helen's upcoming presentation this week will be packed with insights and tips that might surprise you, come and listen to a very different take on an accounting career!

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At Moir Group we see great value in experience. Even internally, we have many mature, experienced people working across all areas of our business. Our team all work well together, we add value to each other no matter what their age or the stage of their careers and we all learn from each other. This is one of our secrets to success.

Recently we have placed a candidate who offered a wealth of experience in activity based costing, project and change management, stakeholder engagement and who was a qualified and highly experienced finance professional. He was easy to help because he was flexible on location, rate and the length of contract and came with excellent references. He was also extremely grateful for the opportunity to work and he promised to deliver and add value to the client. His attitude was extremely positive and he offered many years of experience. He will be highly successful in helping our client understand the changes needed in their organisation and then he will easily gain their respect internally and externally to implement these changes. We didn’t ask his age or even know it until we had to do a police check as part to the client’s HR policy and only then we discovered that our candidate was 72. He has the attitude and passion and energy and experience to perform and deliver and that is all that matters to our client and us.

Our candidates come in all ages and stages!

It is easy to say, we rate and support and find excellent roles for our candidates who are first movers or newly qualified. Our Emerging Leaders who have commercial and chartered experience are also easy to place in permanent and contract roles. We support and help candidates to secure roles with excellent organisations.

But what about those who are at the next stage of their careers? Or those who have been made redundant or moved states or countries later in their working lives? They are likely over 50 years old and because of this, they have a world of experience to offer our clients.

Candidates who are immediately available, mature in their approach and attitude and who offer broad and varied industry and technical experience, are highly valued by our contracting team and our clients.

Another candidate we placed in a highly specialised Procure to Pay Project was in her late 60’s. Again we only knew her age when the client needed a date of birth for internal system log on. They actually thought we had made a typo! Her references were strong and showed someone with a no-nonsense approach who gets on with people in a direct and effective way and gets results. There is no time wasted on Facebook, chatting, or on office gossip. She simply does a good job, with a strong work ethic and years of experience in the area our client needed.

There are roles which can benefit from experience offered by our more senior Financial Controllers, Chief Financial Officers and Finance Directors. Recently we placed someone in their late 50’s to take on a role as a Shared Services Director and run a team of 200 people across the AsiaPac Region. Nothing phased him as he had done this before with large, complex organisations and he is now delighted to have the opportunity to again shine in his field of expertise.

To the person doing the hiring:

You are well aware the population in Australia is ageing. Retirement age has been stagged to increase to 67 by 2023. There are talented people available that you can tap into. By not noticing or using these skills, your company is missing out on valuable resources. Everyone reading this, will be part of this pool of candidates either now or in the future. I hate to be the one to point it out, but if you aren’t already, you too will be in the over 40 age bracket at some stage. Chances are when you are in your 50’s, you may find yourself out of work yet still willing and able to contribute. So hiring managers of today, HR professionals and recruiters, you need to be open to this source of candidate because one day soon, it could be you who are offering your experience to the market.

The Aging Workforce is you and me:

I don't know if it is my own age bracket that has lifted my scotoma, or the world is just talking about this more, but everywhere I turn lately I am seeing reference to the aging workforce. In the the SMH Good Weekend recently there were stories of 70 and 80 years still dancing, running business and completing marathons! Ellen DeGeneres was on social media recently tweeting about "over the hill" being a great thing as it means you have to climb really hard mountain and now you are over the hard part and have the rest to look forward to. Also stories about people who started great things when they were well into their 40's, 50's and 60's and that age shouldn't stop anyone and is just a number. Some examples include Colonel Saunders who was 62 when he started KFC; Wilder, who wrote Little House on the Praire didn't publish her first novel until she was 65; Ray Kroc was a milk shake device sales man until he bought McDonalds when he was 52 in 1954 and then we have Stan Lee who created the Fantastic Four comic book title just short of his 40th birthday - the list goes on!

Politicians, judges, scientist and professors; they often do their best work in their senior years. Think of Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and even Barack Obama born in 1961, and then there is Charles Darwin who was in his 50’s when his “Origin of Species” work changed science forever back in 1859! Think of famous musicians who never stop, Pavarotti and Tom Jones just to name two!

So the message here is, human beings have a basic need to feel needed and be valued. If they are sharp, motivated and have years of experience from all types of organisations to share, why not hire them? Interim roles especially need people to hit the ground running, to be self managed and to work well with many people, so why not hire someone who has many years of technical experience and people management skills to draw on. You, the hiring manager, can get on with your job and know the candidate is sorting out the project you have assigned to them with minimal fuss and maximum output. It’s not about how old the mind is. It’s about the mindset!

And really, if you are good at something, and enjoy it, why stop?

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Thank you to everyone who attended our recent Moir Group Women in
Business Event at the QVB Tearooms on Wednesday 2nd September. We have been overwhelmed by
all the amazing feedback from everyone, and are delighted that you all enjoyed
the afternoon. Looking forward to doing it all again in 2016….!

This
is a selection of some of the feedback and also a few photos from the day.

“What a trio of amazing women, thank you for providing the exposure to them”

“I can't think how you could top that, it really was outstanding, in a sea of mediocre events”

“An excellent panel! Taking on board some of the learnings the panel shared is easy and practical; very insightful and inspiring”

“The perception of anyone who has never been to an event which focuses on women in business is about the glass ceiling and how to jungle having a family and a career will be mentioned. It was very refreshing that none of the speakers spoke about those issues, but rather focusing on stories which empower and motivate us to work harder. All the speakers were exceptionally inspirational “.

“The speakers planted some words of wisdom for me that I really need to start enacting upon. There stories resonated with me and it is up to me how I move forward”

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Whether you look at it from a humanitarian or commercial perspective, gender equality benefits the whole of society. This was acknowledged at the G20 summit in Brisbane last year, with leaders committing to reducing the workforce participation gender gap by 25% (target date 2025)

They also acknowledged that there are a number of barriers to workplace participation, namely:

A need for Social change – creating new social norms that see men sharing domestic and caring duties, and that change stereotypes around the types of work undertaken by men and women.

A need for Policy change – establishing clear policy to break down barriers to female workforce participation, such as providing affordable childcare and reducing disincentives for women to work more hours and more days.

A need for Workplace change – making sure employers are focusing on eliminating workplace inequalities such as wage gaps and under representation of women in leadership pipelines.

This week at our Moir Group event, Alex Coward, General Manager of Organisational Development at TAL Life will be discussing some of the ways that TAL are addressing these issues, including:

How TAL has used measurement tools to prove the business case for investing in gender equality programs

The reason why all roles at TAL are offered on a flexible basis

A snap shot of the programs that have created the greatest impact; and

How TAL’s own group of Male Champions of Change are challenging the status quo

For more information on Alex Coward’s presentation or any of our other events, please head to our Event Page.

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Thanks again to all the fabulous ladies who attended our recent Moir Group Women in Business Event at the QVB Tearooms on Thursday 21st August. We have been overwhelmed by all the amazing feedback from everyone, and are delighted that you all enjoyed the afternoon. Looking forward to doing it all again in 2015….!

This is a selection of some of the feedback and also a few photos from the day.

“Thank you very much for inviting me along to the session yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed. Interesting and engaging speakers and great table of ladies to chat with.

"It has certainly made me pause and think about my career path and what I want to do. Lots of thought provoking ideas and mantras…”

“I wanted to thank you for inviting me to yesterday's event, the presenters were very inspiring and networking was of great value. Please extend my congratulations and special thanks to the organising team.”

“Thank you for such a wonderful event yesterday. It was well organized, enjoyable, interesting and motivational. I’m already looking forward to next year’s!”

“Everything worked so well – from the venue to the setup and catering, to the format of the afternoon and to the actual speakers. I really enjoyed the content of all the speakers, and also thoroughly enjoyed making some new connections as well as catching up with old ones.

"Congratulations, and can’t wait till next year’s event now!”

“Just wanted to thank you for inviting me to the event this afternoon. It was beautifully put together - stunning room, delicious treats, thought provoking and inspiring speakers - a great afternoon!!”

“And thank you for a most enjoyable afternoon! Inspiring.”

“It was such a fantastic event, thank you so much for inviting me! It is so lovely to attend an event and leave really feeling inspired. There was a lovely group of ladies there, best Thursday I have spent in quite a while!

"The hosting, attention to detail, etiquette, venue – all just bang on!”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the talks and filled my 'thought bubbles' which was a splendid idea and which I will refer to as I take up many if the tips shared.”

“Thank you for the invite! As result of the meeting I have reignited my networking activities and organised some meetings with possible mentors and/or create some opportunities to do something different”

“What a wonderful event last Thursday! Thank you so much for inviting me. It was fantastic to finally see a Moir event in action, what a wonderful venue and such great speakers (such a good mix of styles and personalities)”

“Many thanks for including me on the guest list. Thoroughly enjoyed the speakers and the event.

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We built Moir Group 7 years ago, with the above statement as our foundation and we continue to grow with this goal firmly guiding our path.

Recently it has got me thinking. What does it really mean to have a life that is fulfilling and a job that satisfies? Being a recruitment organisation and given I have been in the industry for many years now, I thought I might draw on experiences both personally and with clients and candidates, to explore this further.

On the surface, one may expect a satisfying job to be all about the pay, the title and the career opportunities. For some, these things are fundamental in accepting a new role and then being successful in this role

Underpinning these however there is a softer, emotional side that really seems to affect nearly all people we place in roles, and also the roles we recruit.

Thinking first about satisfying jobs. Individuals like to feel needed and they enjoy being listened to and valued. This applies no matter your level in an organisation and whether you are more introvert or extrovert in nature. I think it is a core human desire.

Most individuals also like to be trusted and able to trust others around them.

They need to relate to the culture of the organisation both in regards to how the business treats and respects their specific discipline as well as the broader corporate cultures effect on them as individuals.

Just to digress a moment, I am lucky to have a HSC student in our house in 2014 and the theme for English this year is “Belonging”. It seems this has been the English theme for a few years now and here we are asking our young adults to explore the importance of “belonging” by studying and comparing classic and modern novels and movies and creating their own creative writing stories on the same theme.

This cuts to the core of human happiness. One wants to belong and feel a part of something. For job satisfaction, it is the same. You spend many hours a week with your work colleagues and it doesn’t matter your role, you want to feel a part of something and know that what you are doing is valuable.

In roles where people don’t have this sense of belonging, it really is irrelevant how much you pay them or what title you give them, they wont be satisfied in their roles. When people are unhappy, it can lead to miscommunication, internal gossip and negative energy that then often moves on to affect the bottom line of a business, as the core begins to rot.

Instead, build a business and create an environment where people feel they belong. This will in turn create satisfaction and positive energy.

This doesn’t mean everyone can belong in every place and it doesn’t mean where you belong wont change with time. What it does mean is you can better understand what you and those around you are actually looking for and how this affects their behaviour.

Think about the times when you or a colleague has left a role or organisation. Think of those specific examples. When I do that I can see that for one reason or another that person felt they were no longer needed or adding value. They sometimes felt under valued. This can then affect their work and no matter how hard they try to improve or impress things rarely change. They have sometimes lost the trust of colleagues and managers to succeed and that makes it even harder to turn things around. It is not a bad thing. Sometimes it is time to go and find your satisfaction level again. Alternatively give the person a new challenge and feeling of trust and belonging and you will see the positive results.

This is also a good reason to really think hard on relying too heavily on references. I know this is a big call and I very much agree with technical and personal references when hiring people. The only thing is to use them more as a guide on how to manage someone new or get the most out of them, rather than to judge too harshly if there were some issues. If someone has been with an organisation a long time, sometimes asking more about the journey they had in that organisation and the contributions they made along the way, rather than focusing purely on reason for leaving, may add value to your hiring process.

Everyone deserves a chance to find the ideal place for them and once found they are likely to have job satisfaction and perform highly in the role.

You all went to school and some might be living it again through your children. Think back to what you liked about school. When you had a group to belong to and felt valued and that you were learning and that you could share ideas with others, you were happy. Children who feel left out or undervalued by friends or teachers tend to be the unhappy ones.

It doesn’t mean they can’t succeed in a different environment. Maybe school structure wasn’t for them and we all know of highly successful and happy people who moved from a certain environment to a different path and found their way.

There are many life examples where being needed, valued and belonging guide your sense of well-being and happiness. When children leave home, some parents lose their sense of feeling needed in the home; when an aging parent passes, the prime carer may feel lost for many years, no longer having a purpose of caring for another.

Life is a journey and a satisfying job is a big part of making ones life feel worthwhile. Even though work is just one part of your overall life, it does take up the majority of your time. Other elements including family and friends also contribute to ones life being fulfilling. Some enjoy material success and even that is a way of feeling needed and valued. They can provide and they like to show others that too and it helps them belong to certain groups.

Whether your job is paid or unpaid, stay at home or in an office, or even the job of being a student, the need for belonging and having satisfaction in your job relates to you and to those around you.

If you know you feel like this then recognise others do too and understand their desire to be needed and valued. Make them feel worthwhile and say thank you and let them know that they belong in your world. Be it work, family or friends this approach will create a positive vibe around you and allow others to feel satisfied and fulfilled and this will flow onto you and your circle of life and happiness.

Life is here to enjoy and why not let others and yourself strive for a satisfying job and a fulfilling life. I know I do!